“It was pressure I put on myself. Because I saw other athletes and I wanted to be part of that, okay, look, I want to prove that they did the right thing supporting me during my pregnancy, and now I’m going to come back for them.”
Neely Spence Gracey ran professionally for eight years after a lot of success as a collegiate runner in the D2 program at Shippensburg University. She has two kids, has coached hundreds of athletes through her business, Get Running, and ran FOUR marathons in 2024 alone. In this episode, we caught up with Neely toward the beginning of 2025 and talked about all the things:
- Her transition from high school success to collegiate running at Shippensburg University, a D2 program in Pennsylvania
- Why she started her run coaching business while still running professionally
- Her two different experiences with pregnancy and running
- How she approached getting back to running postpartum with her second kid to try to avoid some of those injuries
- How long it took her to feel “normal” again on the run, and running and racing postpartum after her professional contracts ended
- Training between her qualifying race (CIM 2022) and the Olympic Trials in 2024
- What she realized while training for the 2024 Olympic Trials marathon
- Her year of 4 marathons in 2024!
- A race recap from her 2:33 at CIM 2024
- Her 2025 goals
For more from Lane 9, where we talk about REDs, period health, nutrition, and mental health, go to Lane9project.org. To connect with a Lane 9 clinician or coach, click on “Directory”, and to get in touch, click on “Contact”. We’d love to hear from you!
Follow Neely @neelysgracey on IG.
@Lane9Project on IG and Blue.Sky
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